Monday, March 8, 2010

"Agricultural biotechnology is controversial but essential, Bill believes, to ease the plight of the 1 billion impoverished people who live with chronic hunger. He reviews a provocative book on the realities of farming today – and its future."

"A study by the Union of Concerned Scientists found that in the United States, 70 percent of antibiotics are used to feed healthy livestock, with 14 percent more used to treat sick livestock. Only about 16 percent are used to treat humans and their pets, the study found.

More antibiotics are fed to livestock in North Carolina alone than are given to humans in the entire United States, according to the peer-reviewed Medical Clinics of North America. It concluded that antibiotics in livestock feed were "a major component" in the rise of antibiotic resistance."